Pakistan’s 16-year-old Affan Salman clinched the World Youth Scrabble Championship title at the tournament in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan achieved another remarkable achievement in the word game, Scrabble, by winning the World Youth Scrabble Championship for a record fifth time. Salman dominated the competition, winning 19 of the 23 matches. Pakistan has now become the first country in the world to win the World Youth Scrabble Championship five times. 138 players from all over the world participated in the event.
According to a post on the official Facebook page of the World English Scrabble Players Association (WESPA), Affan Salman was victorious in the World Junior Scrabble Championship with a record of 20-4 and a spread of +1793, displaying exceptional skill and strategy.
Other Pakistani players also excelled, with Bilal Ashar in sixth and Ibrahim Mansoor in eighth, both scoring 16-8. Aehzam Ahmed also secured 10th place. Suyash Manchali of India took second place with a record of 17-7 and a spread of +2364, demonstrating impressive competitive acumen. The tournament highlighted Pakistan’s growing strength in Scrabble.
Affan’s brother Ali Salman won the World Youth title in 2022 and is the only example of two brothers winning the World Youth Championship in history.
Pakistan won a host of trophies and awards including the team trophy for being the No. 1 team with four players from Pakistan finishing in the top 10.
Bilal Asher won fifth place, Ibrahim Mansour won eighth place, and Ahzam Ahmed won tenth place, while Bilal Asher also won the U-14 championship title.
Zayan Zaman won the trophy for the highest individual move score. The senior side tournament was won by Wasim Khatri from Pakistan.